


A Softer World Would Let Us Drown

by ProjectFYERBIRD



Series: A Softer World [3]
Category: Hellboy (Movies)
Genre: A softer world - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Drowning, F/M, M/M, Mermaids, Nuada Needs To Get His Shit Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 01:23:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11956764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProjectFYERBIRD/pseuds/ProjectFYERBIRD
Summary: I might tire myself out from struggling,and drownbut I will not sink.(I fought my way into this world. I'll fight my way out of it)- A Softer World





	A Softer World Would Let Us Drown

**Author's Note:**

> ooh boy do i have a lot of feels in general abt hellboy 2 and nuada is the cause of most of them. anyway he deserved better so here's a redemption arc au. not my best work but i literally could not care less.

Green and gold scaled arms crushed the breath from your lungs as you thrashed in the frigid winter lake water. A forked tongue flicked against the shell of your ear and you jerked your chin away to the best of your ability as your body screamed for oxygen. There was a crunch as a rib broke under the mermaid's arms, and then another and another. A gasp of pain forced its way past your lips, allowing water to rush in. You choked and began to struggle anew, eyes going wide as you raked your blunt fingernails down the arms encircling your chest. Black crept along the edges of your vision and oblivion hovered over your consciousness as fatigue crawled into your limbs. Cold sank into your weary body down into your bones but still you did not cease your struggles, no matter how futile they were. She would not take you without a fight. Darkness edged closer and closer as unconsciousness loomed over you and the winter chill dug its claws further into your body. 

Just as you started to sink into unconsciousness there was a flash of light, a scream, and a suddenly the water ran red with blood. 

Someone's hands were pressing down on your chest and there were warm lips on your own. You barely caught a glimpse of golden eyes and porcelain skin before you turned onto your side - away from those hands and the pain in your chest - and coughed up lungfuls of lake water. Liz draped a thick black towel over your shoulders and you wrapped it tightly around yourself as your teeth chattered. "Disney _l-lied_ to me," you said in a weak, breathy voice. Then you passed out.

* * *

You woke up in a hospital bed in the infirmary. Your head felt like it was stuffed with cotton and your tongue felt heavy and leaden in your mouth. Your eyes slowly flicked open to dim lighting and a figure leaning next to the wall on your left. The alabaster white skin and black and red robes gave the figure away a Nuada. The memory of his lips on yours as he breathed life back into you came unbidden to your mind. You shoved it away, telling yourself that it didn't count. "Water," you croaked, wincing at the sound of your voice. Your tongue rasped over the roof of your mouth like sandpaper of wood. 

He handed a glass to you and you dutifully ignored the way his fingers brushed over your wrist. Your hands shook as you raised it to your lips, sloshing water over the side and onto the thin blanket before Nuada wrapped your hands with his and brought it to your mouth. You gave him a grateful look and took small, slow sips. "Thank you," you said after a moment, your words coming out haltingly as you tried out your voice. Finding it easier to talk, you continued. "For saving me, I mean." You went silent again as the reality of what had happened sunk in. 

"I could've died." 

"You could have, yes." 

His voice was quiet and calculating and, as always, never betraying what he was thinking. "Go to sleep," he bade you and a small part of you wanted to say no, to demand of him the reason why he had saved you, but the part of you that was hurting and fatigued told you to do what he said. You nodded slowly and settled back into the pillows behind you. Your eyes slid shut seconds later and your breathing evened out as you fell asleep. 

You woke once more in the night with a tight feeling in your chest but soon there was a flash of golden eyes, a cool hand on your forehead chasing away the tightness, and a voice telling you to sleep. You didn't argue.

* * *

Two days later you found yourself in the library, laid out across one of the couches. The warmth of the fire leeched into your bones as you wrapped yourself in the thick, fluffy blanket Abe had gifted you. You didn't look up as you heard the large, oak doors creak open, staring at the page you had been staring at for the past ten minutes. You couldn't focus. All you could think about the feeling of water clogging your throat, of pain in your chest and hands dragging you down into the deep. 

"I thought humans needed to rest." Nuada's voice floated over from near the library's entrance. To your credit you didn't flinch and kept your eyes fixed on the page in front of you.

"Can't sleep," you answered, still not looking up. You hesitated before continuing. "I dreamed I was drowning."The silence lasted another few minutes as Nuada leafed through a thick tome before you spoke again. "Do you every have those dreams?" You asked quietly. You didn't except a reply, until there suddenly was one.

"Sometimes I dream I am the water."

You didn't how to respond to that so you settled for a faint, "Oh," and returned to rereading the same paragraph over and over again. The next someone spoke, it was Nuada rather than you. "Tell me about your dream," he said, his voice ever so calm and level. This time you did flinch minutely. God, you hadn't even heard him move so close. He leaned over you like a pale haired guardian. "Like I said. I was drowning," you began. "There was water filling my lungs, my throat. Hands were dragging me down deeper, and no matter how hard I fought, how much I struggled and thrashed I kept going down and down until the light began to flicker. I remember thinking, 'I won't let them get me. I might drown but I won't sink. I won't.'"

"Somehow I think we've stopped talking about your dream."

You looked away from your book, your gaze drilling holes into the watery filled tank opposite you. "I'm sorry -" what did you have to apologise for "- I just . . . I don't want to die like that."

"You didn't die that that. You won't die like that."

For once his voice wasn't that infuriating calm. It was tight and hard and he spoke the words with such conviction that you found yourself believing him. You finally looked up at him, flicking your E/C eyes to meet his golden ones. Your breath caught in your throat and you forced yourself to remember how to breathe. They seemed to burn with an inner fire and it felt like your naked soul was laid out in front of him. You made the first move, fisting your hands in his robes and dragging him down to meet your lips. Nuada's hair fell like a curtain, tickling your cheeks. You breathed heavily when you parted, a wince passing over your face as pain twinged faintly in your chest. "Ow," you muttered but you could speak no more as Nuada cupped your cheeks and brought you in for another kiss. His touch seemed to soothe away the pain and you relaxed under his lips. 

You pulled away, your fingers dancing across the bridge of his nose. 

"Okay, I won't die like that."

 

 


End file.
